16′ Sharpie Microcruiser progress so far.

Well progress has been pretty good on the 16′ ply/epoxy microcruiser I’m currently building. Above you can see the sides are planked and I’ve just fitted the aft half of the bottom planking. I had done the sides a single 16′ lengths and they weren’t as difficult to handle as you might think. I did think though that trying to lift a sixteen by four feet 3/8″ wobbly and floppy piece of plywood up onto a boat bottom that has been buttered with a sticky layer of epoxy might have pushed my patience to breaking. So I did it in two halves and it worked out splendidly.

I wanted to make sure that the skeg would be well secured to the boat. So I morticed the keel to receive the centre part of the laminated skeg and gluied the two cheeks on to it. It will be also screwed on from inside the boat and protected with a metal keel band.

Once I had the skeg done and all of the fastener holes filled I was able to start getting ready for sheathing the hull in Fiberglass and epoxy. This make the the hull more abrasion resistant and ensures a good thick coat of epoxy to guarantee watertightness.

At this stage I got the sticky stuff out again so the next batch of photos will be along soon. Epoxy and digital cameras don’t mix well. Until next time.